Milne, A. A., and E.H. Shepard | Four first editions

From the Library of Clayre and Jay Michael Haft

Milne, A. A., and E.H. Shepard

A group of four Winnie-the-Pooh first editions, with illustrations by Ernest H. Shepard, in original dust jackets

When We Were Very Young. London: Methuen & Co. Ltd., 1924. 4to (189 x 120 mm). Half-title, in-text illustrations; long repaired tear to lower blank margin of p.17/18, closed tear to lower blank margin of p.35/36, stray spots, smudging, and fingersoiling, half-title and verso of last leaf browned, printed advertisement and newspaper clipping loosely inserted. Publisher's blue cloth pictorially stamped in gilt, top edge gilt, white endpapers, in the original cream wove dustjacket pictorially printed in blue; one or two stray stains to cloth boards, dustjacket toned, more so at spine panel, with nicks at extremities and slight loss at head and tail of spine, a few stray stains. — Winnie-the-Pooh. London: Methuen & Co. Ltd., 1926. 4to (189 x 120 mm). Half-title, in-text illustrations; stray smudges and fingersoiling. Publisher's green cloth pictorially stamped in gilt, decorative endpapers, in the original yellow-orange wove dustjacket pictorially printed in blue, and with additional facsimile jacket; slightly shelf-cocked, boards slightly bowed, light offsetting to free-endpapers, dustjacket lightly toned, more so at spine panel, loss to head and tail of spine panel, chips at folds and a few nicks at extremities, stray spots. — Now We Are Six. London: Methuen & Co. Ltd., 1927. 4to (189 x 120 mm). Half-title, in-text illustrations; half-title and verso of last leaf browned, dampstaining to title, tiny nick to lower blank margin of p.49/50. Publisher's deep red cloth pictorially stamped in gilt, top edge gilt, decorative endpapers, in the original mint wove dust-jacket, pictorially printed in blue; slightly shelf-cocked, lightly rubbed at head and tail of spine, stray stain to upper cover, discoloration to endpapers, dustjacket sunned at spine panel and extremities, loss to head and tail of spine panel, chips at folds and a few nicks at extremities. — The House at Pooh Corner. London: Methuen & Co. Ltd., 1928. 4to (189 x 120 mm). Half-title, in-text illustrations; browning to a few leaves, stray spots. Publisher's pink cloth pictorially stamped in gilt, top edge gilt, decorative endpapers, in the original salmon wove dust-jacket, pictorially printed in blue; shelf-cocked, lightly rubbed at head and tail of spine, browning to endpapers, spine panel of dustjacket rubbed and browned, rear panel separated and clumsily taped to spine panel, loss at head and tail of spine panel, chips at folds, nicks at extremities, stray spots.

A group of four first editions of Milne's beloved children's books. The Pooh series began with a single story in a children's magazine, and as Milne added more verses to it, it evolved into When We Were Very Young. "The animals in the stories came for the most part from the nursery," Milne once commented. "My collaborator (his wife, Dorothy 'Daphne' de Sélincourt) had already given them individual voices, their owner by constant affection had given them the twist in their fortunes which denoted character, and Shepard drew them, as one might say, from the living model. They were what they are for anyone to see. I described them rather than invented them."

REFERENCE

Carpenter and Prichard 352; Payne, "Four Children's Books by A. A. Milne," Studies in Bibliography 23 (1979), pp. 127-139